Iron Duo
by Maria Rocket
Summary: A screwy Gundam Wing tainted fairytale. Despite what the title suggests, this is really a Quatre and Dorothy fic. Hehehe!


Iron Duo

by Maria Rocket

***

(Author's Notes: Okay, I once again veer off my main projects and indulge in silly fic bordering on insanity fic at times. This was supposed to be a little exercise to unwind, but it ran away with me. ^^; Basically, it's a weirded out Gundam take on 'Iron John' a Brothers Grimm fairytale. This time around we've got Quatre/Dorothy (I like 'em too ^^;) with some Duo/Hilde sprinkles. I can't seem to do a fic that doesn't have Duo/Hilde in it somewheres...^^;;; )

***

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a big forest in it. The kingdom was ruled by King Winner. The Queen had been dead a long time, but there were twenty-nine princesses and one young prince, which meant the King was always sending hunters out into the forest to keep food in the royal dining hall. He often sent hunters into the forest on big hunting parties. Then one day, one huntsman never returned. In concern, King Winner sent search parties out to find out what had happened to his hunter. But these never returned either.

As time passed, more hunters ventured into the forest. But everytime, no one ever returned. Soon people were calling the forest cursed, and no one dared enter. Naturally, King Winner loved his forest, and was displeased that all this was happening. However he could do nothing about it, and the kingdom's forest remained deserted and silent for years.

Then one day a lone hunter with no name and a really long bang came to the king looking for work. As a master hunter, he offered his services to King Winner.

"I'm sorry," replied King Winner, "but I can not hire you. Every hunter that goes into the forest never comes back. I will not send you to your death." He then explained the situation with the other hunters who had ventured into the forest.

There was a moment of silence, then the lone hunter nodded. "I will go into the forest and rid you of whatever is causing you this problem, King Winner. I have no fear."

There was no arguing the matter. "Farewell," the King said, "Though I'll probably never see you again."

So the long-banged hunter took his best hunting dog, an insane amount of ammo, three other hunters, and went into the forest. He wandered for hours without seeing anything, until he came to a large pond. His dog ran up ahead to run along the shallow end of the water. The water was dark and murky, but the hunter saw nothing suspicious about it.

Not until a hand reached out of the water and dragged the dog down. There was a splash, but the dog did not have a chance to make a sound. The hunter ran up a few steps, but halted, seeing an arm floating in the water. He narrowed his visible eye and backed up.

He called on the other three hunters to come and help him clear the water out of the pond. This doesn't seem very likely, but this is a fairytale, and so didn't take them very long. When they were done, they exposed the body of a boy with the longest, wildest, light brown hair they'd ever seen. All he was wearing was a snorkel. Somehow he'd been living at the bottom of the pond.

They tied him up before he could get away. "Hey, you can't do this to me!" He yelled. "I'm Shinigami! Lemme go!"

The lone hunter frowned slightly. "Is that why you killed all the hunters who came into the forest?"

"Whatta nut," one of the other hunters whispered. "He thinks he's death!"

"I am!" The wild boy growled. "And these are my woods! Only I say who lives and who dies! I got tired of you guys always coming in and shooting down all the animals!" He got a feral gleam in his eye. "So Shinigami decided to make the hunters the hunted..."

"Silence, animal!" One of the hunters struck him across the face. "What's your real name?" He demanded.

"I am Shinigami," the wild boy declared once again. "But I have also been known as Iron Duo." He grinned. "Cuz I eat a lot of Wheaties."

"I'm glad I'm outta this fic now," The one-banged hunter muttered.

***

Iron Duo was led back to the castle all tied up. Originally King Winner was going to execute whomever had been responsible, but finding it was only a boy with huge pleading puppy-dog violet eyes, he spared his life. Instead, he sentenced him to life in an iron cage. It caused some controversy in the kingdom, but at the constant nagging of his daughters, King Winner put Iron Duo's cage in the royal courtyard.

The twenty-nine princesses were always coming around to stare lovestruck at their prisoner, but they were absolutely forbidden to touch, and especially never ever to open the locked door. This didn't stop Iron Duo from flirting like a maniac however, and often trying to sweet talk the princesses into opening his cage. The princesses weren't about to risk losing their favorite pet though. The eldest, and most responsible of the princesses was entrusted with the key to his cage.

One day, young Prince Quatre was playing in the courtyard with his favorite golden ball. It was heck to play with, being made of solid gold, but it had been a gift from the one-banged hunter who had captured Iron Duo. Also, Prince Quatre had heard that playing with golden balls was the thing for royal kids to do.

"Yeowch!" Prince Quatre screeched as the golden ball fell onto his foot. He pulled it off. "I think that princess in the frog fairytale tossed it away on purpose," he grumbled beneath his breath. Then he got the idea to use it as a golden bowling ball.

So he set up some pins, and gripping the golden ball the best he could without holes in it, he threw it. The golden ball rolled and rolled, and knocked over all the pins. Prince Quatre cheered.

"Strike!"

But the golden ball kept on rolling, and knocked into a stone, sending it flying through the air. It came down through the bars of Iron Duo's cage, smacking him soundly on the head. The blow should have killed a normal boy, but Iron Duo just woke up cursing and clutching at his head.

He picked up the golden ball. "What the hell!??"

Prince Quatre ran up to the cage. "Oops! Sorry, can I have my ball back?"

Iron Duo glared at the little kid. But Prince Quatre was so cute, that it was kinda disgusting. He sighed. Then Iron Duo grinned slyly. "Okay. But only if you open the cage for me."

"I can't! Father has forbidden it!" Prince Quatre pouted. "Please, Iron Duo, give me back my golden ball!"

"Nuh uh." Iron Duo held the golden ball and shook a finger at Prince Quatre. "Not until you let me out."

As much as Prince Quatre wanted his favorite toy back, he could not go against his father's wishes. However, the next day, he came back to beg Iron Duo again.

"Look, I can't get you out anyway," Prince Quatre explained. "My eldest sister is the only one with the key to the cage."

"The key is under your sister's pillow," Iron Duo told him. "Go get it."

"Oh..." Suddenly Prince Quatre frowned. "Hey! How do you know it's under my sister's pillow!?"

"Uhh...I...err..." Iron Duo fidgeted uncomfortably. "That's not important, just go get it." When Prince Quatre didn't move, he added in a whisper. "Stick to the story, Quatre!"

"Fine." Prince Quatre seized Iron Duo through the bars and gave him the evilest deathglare ever to be seen on the blonde. "But once this fic is over, you've got a LOT of explaining to do...!"

So, once releasing the sweating wild boy, Prince Quatre went up to his eldest sister's bedroom to find the key. He didn't want to go against his father's wishes, but he really wanted his ball back. So he got the key and returned to Iron Duo's cage.

However, the door was rusty and hard to open. Trying to get the key in, the young prince jammed his finger into the lock.

"OWWWW!!!" Prince Quatre cried.

"Oh, give me that," Iron Duo grumbled. He took the key from Prince Quatre and opened the cage himself. Once free, he gave Prince Quatre his golden ball back. "Thanks kid. Later!" And he took off running.

Realizing what he'd done, Prince Quatre was very frightened. His father would be furious... He threw away the golden ball and went running after Iron Duo. "Hey! Wait! My father's gonna kill me when he finds out you're gone! ...And my sisters will REALLY murder me!!!"

With a long suffering sigh, Iron Duo stopped and turned around. "Okay, okay, you can come with me then." He then lifted Prince Quatre onto his shoulders and tried to run off into the forest.

But it was actually more of a stagger, because Iron Duo wasn't much bigger than Prince Quatre was. The young Prince just looked rather confused that Iron Duo was actually trying to carry him, while the wild boy himself was swearing revenge upon the author. The author on the other hand, pointed the blame towards the Brothers Grimm who wrote the original fairytale.

"Oh, you'll all suffer for this...!" Iron Duo snapped.

"They're dead, Duo," Prince Quatre whispered. "And you can't hurt the writer person. So giddyup!"

"Aww, damn!"

So, Prince Quatre was carried off into the forest. When King Winner came home and found Iron Duo's cage empty, he asked the princesses what had happened. But they hadn't a clue, and when they looked for the key, they couldn't find it. Then they went to ask Prince Quatre what he knew, but found him missing as well. King Winner sent people searching through the surrounding countryside for him, but the prince was not found. Guessing what had happened, King Winner and the entire kingdom went into mourning for the young Prince Quatre.

Still, Prince Quatre was alive and well in the deep forest. There, Iron Duo finally collapsed from the strain of carrying Prince Quatre. He pushed the happy little prince off. "You can never see your father or sisters again," he moaned, picking himself up. "But you set me free, so you can stay here with me now."

"Oh, wow, do I get my own little pile of leaves?" Prince Quatre asked sarcastically.

Iron Duo glared. "Man, I shoulda left you behind." He cleared his throat. "No, despite what you may think, I'm actually very well off. I've got riches beyond your wildest dreams."

"My wildest dreams...?"

When Prince Quatre got a weird goofy look on his face, Iron Duo grimaced. "Don't describe it, I don't wanna know what demented thing that's supposed to mean..." he mumbled, and smacked Prince Quatre upside the head. "Snap outta it!"

"Oh!" Prince Quatre blushed. "Uhh...yeah, right. Then why do you live in the forest? Where are all these riches?"

"Look, just take my word for it, okay!?" Iron Duo then made a bed of moss for the prince. "Just do everything I tell you, and you'll be all right. I'll take care of you."

"...." Prince Quatre looked from the moss bed, to Iron Duo, to the moss bed, and back again. With a freaked out look, he backed up. "Uhh...I don't think I like where this is going... I'll be going back home now..."

"Oh, just get in there and sleep!" Iron Duo grabbed Prince Quatre and dropped him onto the moss bed. Then he ran off quickly, just to be on the safe side.

***

The next morning, Iron Duo took Prince Quatre to a well in the forest. The water in the well was crystal clear, and golden, like sparkling apple juice. Prince Quatre blinked into it, seeing his reflection in the water.

"This is the golden well," Iron Duo explained. "It's absolutely perfect and pure. Your job is to make sure nothin' gets into it."

Prince Quatre blinked. "Why?"

"Because it's a magic well. And magic wells always need to be guarded like preschoolers for some reason or another..." Iron Duo shrugged. "I'd do it, but Princess Hilde over in the Sweeper Kingdom is expectin' me." He started preening at his long hair with a dreamy look. "She's a babe, y'know..."

Prince Quatre rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it."

"Alright. After my date tonight, I'll be back to see how you're doin'. I'm expecting that water to be completely untouched when I get back."

"Don't worry, everything'll be fine," Prince Quatre smiled.

So the young prince watched over the water. It was the most boring thing he'd ever done, though he had a number of perilous close encounters with falling leaves. He was going to make sure nothing fell into the water. He sat there on the edge of the well, swinging his legs back and forth.

His finger, which he'd jammed into Iron Duo's cage the other day was still hurting though. He tried sucking on it, but it still hurt. Without thinking about it, he dipped it into the water. Instantly, he pulled it out again, hoping no damage had been done. He glanced worriedly into the water, but there was no change that he could see.

Then he saw that his finger was all golden. Not metal, but just golden. Prince Quatre freaked, and tried wiping the gold color from his finger onto his shirt. But it just wouldn't come off.

So when Iron Duo came back that night from his date, he saw Prince Quatre's golden finger. And he knew what had happened. He smacked a hand to his forehead with a groan.

"You stuck your finger in the well, didn't you? Argh... I guess I'll let it go, since this was your first day on the job." He looked at Prince Quatre sternly. "But I've got another date with Princess Hilde tomorrow, so you'd better make sure nothing falls into the well again."

So the next morning, Prince Quatre watched over the well again. His finger still hurt, but he made extra sure not to get near the water this time. So instead, he rubbed the sore finger on his head. But that caused a hair to fall into the well. He quickly fished the hair out, but it was already covered in gold.

When Iron Duo came home that night, he saw the hair and knew what had happened. "Oh geez, I don't ask much!" He moaned. "Look, I'll let it go one more time. But I'm going back to see Princess Hilde tomorrow, and you're going to be watching the well again. If you let anything else get in that well, it'll be ruined. And if that happens, you can't stay with me anymore."

Prince Quatre sighed. "I'm really sorry. I won't let you down again."

So the next day, Iron Duo went to see Princess Hilde again, leaving Prince Quatre with the golden well again. This time, he was determined not to let anything fall into the well. He refused to move, even though his finger still hurt. But after sitting there for hours, Prince Quatre was bored, and leaned over slightly to look at his reflection in the water.

"Am I getting a pimple?" Quatre shuddered, and leaned in closer to get a better look. He leaned in so low, that he lost his grip on the side of the well, and fell over.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Frantic as he went headfirst towards the water, he reached out and gripped the other side of the well with his outstretched arms. For a few terrifying minutes, he hung there suspended over the water. At first, he gave a sigh of relief. Then he saw the end of his bangs floating in the water. His eyes went extremely wide.

With a hard push, he sprung away from the well. The magic of the water had spread from his bangs to the rest of his hair, and now it was a brilliant golden color. ...Well, it was more golden than it used to be. So golden that it sparkled. 

Prince Quatre wailed. "How am I going to keep this from Iron Duo!?" Desperate, he got a handkerchief and wrapped it around his head.

When Iron Duo came home, covered with lipstick, he was too giddy at first to notice anything wrong with the well. Then he got a good look at Prince Quatre's handkerchief, and his good mood fell away. He stared at Prince Quatre's head with a very unamused stare. 

"Take it off."

"I'm cold!" Prince Quatre complained.

Shaking his head, Iron Duo crossed his arms. "Take the rag off now."

Once he took off the handkerchief, Prince Quatre's golden hair was revealed. He pleaded with Iron Duo to forgive him, but it was no use. Iron Duo made it very clear that he was going to throw the prince out. He picked up Prince Quatre by the back of his shirt and dragged him off.

"Man, good help is so hard to find," Iron Duo muttered. "Kid, you've got a good heart, but you're worthless. So I'm puttin' ya out in the world to make somethin' outta yourself." Reaching the edge of the forest, Iron Duo booted the prince out. "Hey, if you ever need help though, just come into the forest and call my name. I've got cash and connections, remember."

Prince Quatre just pouted back at him. "Goodbye." With that, he shuffled off into the world, completely on his own for the first time.

Eventually after walking a very long time, Prince Quatre came to a big city. He tried to get a job, but there wasn't much to be had, especially since he had no skills. He only knew how to be a prince, and the kingdom that the city was under already had a king and a princess, and didn't have need for any other royalty.

But he tried the royal palace anyway. When he asked for the prince position they all just laughed at him. He was so cute though, that they took pity on him and gave him a job helping the royal cook. He took to simply calling himself Quatre, and did all the little jobs around the kitchen. Always, he wore a hat so that no one would see his golden hair.

One day, the cook was really busy, and no one other than Quatre was in the kitchen, so he had the boy take the food dishes to the king's table. When Quatre brought the food to the table, the king looked at his hat.

"You must not wear hats to the royal table," the king told him.

"Excuse me, Sire," Quatre apologized, trying to think up a quick excuse. "But I have a really nasty gash on my head. You wouldn't want to see it, trust me."

The king was not pleased at all. He sent for the cook, and admonished him for hiring such a rude boy. The king made the cook fire Quatre. But Quatre's blue eyes got all huge and watery with sadness, so the cook took pity and had the royal gardener hire him.

So Quatre worked in the garden, tending and planting the flowers and trees. He really loved working with the plants, and spent many hours in the royal garden working. He worked in all weather, and one hot summer day, when he thought he was all alone, he took off his cap.

He didn't know it, but the king's daughter, Princess Dorothy, happened to be watching from her window above the garden. She watched him wipe the sweat from his forehead as a cool breeze ruffled through his hair. His golden hair, which was brilliant in the sunlight. The princess hung on the edge of the window, practically drooling.

She leaned over the window. "Hey you! Bring me some flowers!" She yelled down to him. Startled, Quatre tugged his cap back over his head hastily. Then he went and gathered up some wild flowers for the princess. He sniffed at them with a smile. Then he hurried up to Princess Dorothy's chamber.

Despite having some strange looking eyebrows, the Princess Dorothy was very beautiful, and Quatre was very taken by her as he delivered the flowers to her. He fidgeted in place for a few minutes as Princess Dorothy set the flowers aside.

"Take off your hat," she ordered.

"W-What?" Quatre squeaked, suddenly sweating bullets. He swallowed hard and tried to back off.

"I said to take off your hat now! You will not wear a hat in the presence of royalty!" Princess Dorothy commanded more firmly. She grabbed Quatre by the front of his shirt and grinned evilly when she saw he was quivering.

At first, nothing but gibberish came out when Quatre tried to speak. Finally he forced his words out. "I-I...I can't. I've got a nasty gash on my head. It wouldn't do for a princess as lovely as you to see it."

Suddenly a fanatical gleam came into Princess Dorothy's eyes. "A gash? Did you get it...in battle?" She looked completely starstruck.

"Uhh..." Quatre smiled weakly. "No."

Princess Dorothy looked very disappointed. "Drat." The way she looked, Quatre suddenly wished he did have a major battle wound. However, he really hated the idea of fighting, he'd come from a pacifist kingdom. Reluctantly removing himself from Princess Dorothy's grasp, he backed off again. "I really should be returning to my tasks now princess..."

With an evil grin, Princess Dorothy reached out and snatched Quatre's hat off of his head. She stared as his golden hair waved free. Taking his hat back, Quatre turned to flee, but not before she forced some gold coins into his hand.

Back in the garden, he pulled his hat back over his head. He didn't turn around, but he knew Princess Dorothy was still watching him intently from the window. Tucking the coins into his pocket as he went back to planting, a little thrill went through him.

"For some reason, I feel so used," Quatre mumbled to himself. A sweet little smile spread across his lips. "...But I think I like it."

***

Having no real use of extra money, Quatre gave the gold coins to the gardener's children. He also didn't want to be paid for seeing the princess. That next day, she called him up to her chamber again. As before, she ordered him to take off his hat. But now that he knew what she was up to, Quatre held on tightly to his hat, not allowing her to remove it. She gave him coins anyway, and he again gave them to the gardener's children.

For weeks this continued. Each day Princess Dorothy would call Quatre up to see her, and each day she'd attempt to take off his hat and fail. She always gave him gold coins, and he'd always give them to the gardener's children. However, Quatre found that he enjoyed the daily game, and Princess Dorothy took to wrestling him to the floor trying to remove the hat. On this day, she got him on her bed.

"Please princess, I can't!" Quatre laughed. 

Princess Dorothy was tickling him, trying to get him to loosen his grip. She grinned. That he was strong enough to resist her advances and stand up to her was something that she admired. She pushed him back against the headboard of her bed, sitting on his chest while trying to tug his hat off.

Quatre only prayed that no one ever entered the room during these times. Now he was only a gardener's assistant, and although all was fairly innocent, he knew it certainly wouldn't appear that way if someone were to just step in. He squirmed beneath her. 

"You are persistant, Quatre," Princess Dorothy huffed. "But you have never seen a real battle, and even if you were not a peasant, you would never be worthy of me."

Quatre felt a blush come to his cheeks. That she would even think such a thing made him feel like jumping about joyfully. But at the same time, it crushed him. "I'm sorry princess," Quatre said quietly. "But I will never go to battle if I can. I don't believe in fighting."

"A pity," Princess Dorothy said, and pushed the gold coins into his hand.

As he left the princess's chamber, Quatre stepped heavier than usual. He pulled the brim of his cap down with a sigh. "How is it that this princess makes me wish to do and be that which I despise?" He shook his head.

***

Soon after, the kingdom went to war. A terrible enemy kingdom was trying to invade, and it was taking all of the king's forces to defend themselves. But the enemy army was huge, and the king was constantly calling in more men to fight.

Seeing the need to defend the kingdom, Quatre ran up to the king's soldiers getting ready to march out. "I want to help you fight! Please someone give me a horse!"

The soldiers all looked down at the small boy and just laughed. But they told him he could come if he found another horse in the stables. Quatre beamed and rushed off to the stables. There he found an old lame horse. With a sigh, he saddled it up and galloped away from the castle. He could feel Princess Dorothy's eyes on him as he left.

Quatre raced off, not to the battlefield, but to the forest. Once deep in the forest, he got off the horse and looked around. "Iron Duo!" He called. "Iron Duo, I need your help!"

"Whoa, you're still alive?" Iron Duo suddenly appeared from behind a tree. He stumbled for a moment as his long loose hair got caught on some bushes. "So, whatcha want, Quatre?"

"I need a strong horse, so I can go to war."

Iron Duo raised an eyebrow. "This isn't like you..." Suddenly a grin spread over his face. "Ahh. Some pretty face got your eye, didn't they?"

Quatre blushed and looked away.

With a snicker, Iron Duo snapped his fingers. "I think I can do your request at least one better... and then some." He took Quatre's horse and led him off into the forest. "C'mon, let's suit ya up."

***

Out on the battlefield, many of the king's men had fallen, and those remaining were being pushed back by the enemy forces. All seemed hopelessly lost, when the strangest thing came roaring out into the midst of all the horses and carnage.

It was a big white Gundam. Well, no one knew that's what it was, but they were all pretty freaked out by it. Behind it were forty smaller mobile suits. Within the Gundam, Quatre called his battle cry.

"Hehehe! Let's go Sandrock!"

So Quatre and his Maganac Corps ripped into the enemy forces. They were vastly outnumbered, but a bunch of guys on horses with swords were nothing but dust compared to a even one mobile suit. The battle was finished in no time flat.

Then the Gundam and the Maganacs fled the battlefield. They went back to the forest. Quatre got out of Sandrock and called for Iron Duo again. The wild boy appeared once more.

"Hey! Back already?"

"Yeah... I need you to take back the Gundam and the Maganac Corps, and give me the old horse back."

"Huh? Well, if that's whatcha want." Iron Duo took back the suits and the Maganacs, and gave the horse back to Quatre. 

"Thank you," Quatre smiled and rode back home to the castle.

***

Later in the day, the king himself returned to the castle with his troops. He was greeted by Princess Dorothy, who was all a twitter about the battle.

"Oh! What a glorious victory you've achieved father!" She congratulated.

The king shook his head. "This victory was not mine. A strange...white knight and the strangest army I have ever seen saved us. He was wearing armor like that of a giant."

Princess Dorothy blinked at him. "I don't understand, father."

"Neither do I. But I thank him, whoever he might be."

Turning about, Princess Dorothy caught sight of Quatre watching them talking from where he was digging in a nearby flowerbed. When she noticed him, he quickly turned his head down, hiding beneath the shadow of his hat. She gaped slightly in surprise as a curious suspicion was aroused in her. She smiled and started towards him.

At the same time, some of the soldiers saw him as well. They laughed at him. "Guess you didn't get very far on that lame horse! Did you hide under the posies all day instead?" The soldiers all sneered at him.

Dorothy frowned, but didn't approach any further.

"I fought with all my strength," Quatre replied calmly. "And if it wasn't for me, you'd all be dead now."

At first, all the soldiers seemed to be angry. Then they looked at the big blue eyes beneath the hat and tried to imagine him in battle. They laughed even harder than before. Quatre just looked away.

"Leave him alone!" Princess Dorothy finally snapped at them. At her reproach, the soldiers quickly became respectful and hurried away. She looked over towards Quatre, who did not look up from his work.

"You really were out there, weren't you?"

Quatre nodded. 

"I thought you said you'd never fight."

"I wouldn't. But I would spare the rest of the kingdom from fighting if I could. I'll suffer that which I despise for those I care about."

"What do you care about, Quatre? You have nothing but your dirt."

Beneath his hat, Quatre smiled. "Yes, I have my dirt. And I'm just hoping...if I care for it long enough..." He took a clump of the black soil in his hand and let it sift gently through his fingers. "The love I put into it will bloom into a rose for me."

There was nothing more said, and Princess Dorothy stood there watching him dig until her father called her away.

***

The next day, the king announced that there would be a victory festival, and that there would be a special ceremony for the soldiers who had been in the battle. During the ceremony, Princess Dorothy would throw a golden apple to the soldiers, and the one who caught it would receive a kiss from the princess. The king hoped that the festival would attract the mysterious white knight from the battle.

After the announcement, Quatre hurried out to the forest once again. And once again he called for Iron Duo. This time the wild boy fell out of a tree. Quatre blinked at him. "Iron Duo, I need a favor again."

"Ah, lemme guess, it's something to do with that girl of yours again, eh?" Iron Duo grinned widely.

Quatre blushed and nodded. "I want to catch the golden apple at the festival tomorrow."

"Oooh...don't you usually get a kiss for catchin' those things..." Iron Duo blinked. "Whoa, and usually they get thrown by princesses!" He started laughing. "Quatre, you are in soooo much trouble!"

Quatre just nodded again. "Please help me?"

"Just leave it to me," Iron Duo chuckled.

***

On the day of the festival, Quatre came riding among the soldiers on a beautiful brown horse, and wearing striking white platinum armor. His face was hidden behind a visor, and everyone was so busy paying attention to the princess that no one noticed him.

When Princess Dorothy threw the golden apple, Quatre caught it easily, thanks to Iron Duo's magic. He rode his steed up towards the podium where the princess stood, looking very curious. Everyone was talking, wondering who the stunning white knight was.

Looking into the visor, Princess Dorothy saw the flash of blue eyes, and gasped in recognition. But when the visor lifted, its shadow obscured his face. He leaned in to kiss her, and she closed her eyes.

There was a strange hush in the air. Then a murmur went up over the crowd as the kiss went on much longer than expected. Trembling, Quatre finally pulled away. He flipped his visor down over his face, and spun his horse around. Before anyone could stop him, he galloped away out of sight.

The king was disappointed that he did not get a chance to meet the white knight, so he arranged for the princess to throw a golden apple again the next day. And again Iron Duo sent Quatre as the white knight. As before, Quatre caught the apple and received his kiss from Princess Dorothy. However, as the king tried to approach, he sped away from the scene once again.

The king was not at all pleased. He announced that Princess Dorothy would throw another golden apple again the next day, and ordered that whoever caught it had to appear before him and give his name. And if he tried to ride off again, he would be chased.

"If he simply refuses to appear before me, he shall be killed." The king spoke gravely. Princess Dorothy didn't look up at him. She was clenching her hands together nervously.

That next day, Quatre went to the festival again. This time however, Iron Duo had fitted him on a black horse with a suit of glossy black armor. No one was looking for a black knight, so again Quatre went unnoticed. He waited at the edge of the crowd in anticipation. His mouth still tingled at the memory of the last two kisses, and he shivered with remembered pleasure. 'If only these festivals could go on forever...' he thought to himself. The princess had confronted him over the past few days during their daily game, but he had refused to affirm or deny his identity as the mystery knight. He watched eagerly as Princess Dorothy threw the golden apple.

As before, he caught it easily. And again he receieved his kiss from the princess. Doubting that the festival could continue for yet another day, Quatre lingered even longer than before on Princess Dorothy's lips. He wanted it to last as long as he could. This time as he pulled away, his eyes met hers for the briefest of instants, and he knew that despite the darkness of his armor, she could see his face. He smiled before pulling his visor down.

Then as before, he turned to run away. But this time, the king's men were fast after him. Quatre's horse was faster, but a sword was thrown, striking him in the leg. He could hear the princess's frightened cry.

Biting down his pain, Quatre urged his horse to go faster. With a violent jump, the horse bolted beyond the king's men. But at the same time, the force of the jump caused Quatre's helmet to go flying off. His golden hair was clearly visible to everyone. In the next moment, he made his escape complete.

***

The next day, Princess Dorothy looked down from her window and saw that Quatre wasn't in the garden as he usually was. She bit her lip and went wandering through the green grounds of the castle. No matter where she went, the boy was nowhere to be found. Finally she went to speak to the head gardener.

"Quatre hasn't been about today," the gardener told her. "I suspect he may be sick, since he refused to leave his bed today. That isn't like him at all."

"Indeed." 

Princess Dorothy returned to the castle. No one saw Quatre for a week. However, one day the princess looked outside her window to see the boy back beneath his favorite trees. He had a slight limp, but he appeared as happy as always. She smiled. There would be no game today. She meant to make sure that Quatre could never run off again. 

'Don't worry Quatre, if you tell the truth, I'm sure father won't kill you,' she thought as she turned to find the king. After telling her father what she knew about Quatre, the king immediately had the gardener's assistant summoned to his throne room.

Looking betrayed and tired, Quatre approached the king. He held his head down, and as always, with his hat firmly in place. However, he did not resist when Princess Dorothy stepped towards him and pulled the hat away, exposing his golden hair. Everyone was in awe at the brilliant sight. Quatre just sighed.

"Are you the knight who caught the golden apples during the days of the festival?" The king demanded.

"Yes, I am." As proof, he stepped forward and set the three golden apples before the king. Then Quatre stood straighter and looked the king in the eye. He knew there would be no more secrets. And royalty was not above him. "I'm also the knight who won the victory against your enemies in the war with my army of mobile suits. I will deny my identity no longer."

"Mobile suits?" The king looked momentarily confused. But he quickly understood that he was speaking of the strange battle that had ended the war. "You are no ordinary boy, that is clear. Just who are you then?"

"I am Prince Quatre Raberba Winner, and I came from a kingdom far away." He broke eye contact with the king to hide his shame. "I was disobedient to my father, King Winner, and I ran away. I've been living as a peasant ever since to atone for my past mistakes."

"I see..." The king nodded. "All is clear now. I believe you have more than atoned for your past actions, whatever they may have been. I owe you my gratitude for what you've done for my kingdom. In return, I ask you to request whatever you desire." He added quickly, "Within reason, of course."

Surprised, Prince Quatre just stood there blankly for a moment. He was even more surprised when Princess Dorothy suddenly seized him and squeezed him as if he were a stuffed toy. She turned to her father gleefully.

"Give him to me, father! This is the only warrior I'll have for my prince!" Princess Dorothy smiled.

Prince Quatre blushed furiously. Then he smiled and looked back up at the king. "I wish that her request be granted."

And so Prince Quatre and Princess Dorothy were married. It was your typical fairytale wedding of course, and even Prince Quatre's father and twenty-nine sisters were invited. They were overjoyed to discover he was still alive, and had long since forgiven him. Everyone was having a great time at the wedding party, when suddenly the great doors were flung open in an overly dramatic display of glitter.

"Shinigami has returned from hell!" Laughed an echoing voice.

When Prince Quatre saw who entered the wedding hall, his jaw dropped in shock. Striding towards him with a big grin on his face was a majestic figure in royal robes of black and silver. He held a large jeweled scythe over his shoulder in a casual way that alarmed him at first, but it was clear the arrival meant no menace. With a laugh, the boy tossed an incredibly long braid behind him.

"Hey! Congratulations, you lucky dog!" 

Prince Quatre finally found his voice. "I-Iron Duo?" The figure before him was undoubtedly Iron Duo, though he no longer appeared as the wild boy he once knew.

"You can call me Prince Duo now," grinned the braided one. "Y'see, a long time ago, I broke up with a girl who happened to be a fairy, and in revenge, she cast a spell on me. The spell cursed me to live forever in the forest like a wild animal until I could commit." He blushed a bit. "But since I've married Princess Hilde, my curse is finally broken!"

"Wow! I'm so glad everything turned out good for you too!" Prince Quatre laughed. 

"Yep!" Prince Duo grinned. Then he pulled a set of keys out of his robes and tossed them to Prince Quatre, who caught them. "Take those, and consider them my wedding present."

"Thanks!" Prince Quatre laughed. "I can start a key collection!"

"Uhh..." Prince Duo raised an eyebrow. Somethings never changed. "It isn't just keys. Those are the keys to everything I own, from my castle to the Gundam. All my stuff is yours now, even the Maganac Corps and my chain of Pizza Huts."

"Oh...wow, cool!" Prince Quatre beamed. Then he blinked. "But what about you?"

"I'm movin' in with Princess Hilde now," Prince Duo laughed. Then he caught sight of the twenty-nine princesses eyeing their former pet with amorous eyes. "Err...and I'd better be gettin' back to her. Stay cool, Quatre!" With that, he ran like nuts to escape the wedding hall and the crazy princesses chasing after him.

"He seems nice," Princess Dorothy noted.

"He is," Prince Quatre smiled and moved over to embrace his new bride. She smiled back at him, and they shared a loving kiss. They later went on to have sixty-eight beautiful children, and founded the 'Pacifism Yet Kick Butt If You Want To' Academy. And they all lived happily ever after.

The End!


End file.
